Universities and Student Unions employ peculiar methods to relieve exam stress
Cecily Johnson finds out how students are relaxing during the exam period
Exam season is most definitely upon us, and this year more and more Universities and Student Unions are attempting to reduce students’ stress levels with a variety of bizarre initiatives ranging from Puppy Therapy to ball pits.
In an ever-growing trend, students are being encouraged to put down their revision notes and tear themselves away from the computer screen for a short time to relax and de-stress by engaging in these unorthodox activities.
Inflatable playgrounds and bubble wrap popping stations have both featured in recent years at the University of Leicester, alongside the ever-popular petting zoo. Bath Spa expanded their zoo this year to include Shetland Ponies alongside the regular goats, ducks and baby chicks.
Students at the University of Exeter have had the opportunity to cuddle with tiny micropigs, provided by a local farm. At Royal Holloway, University of London, the Students’ Union provided both a petting zoo and regular Puppy Therapy sessions with dogs from Battersea Dogs Home.
Bristol University opened up a puppy-petting centre in partnership with the charity UK Guide Dogs. Over 2000 students applied but just 500 got the chance to take part in the project, inspired by recent research in Japan which suggested that interacting with animals may improve concentration levels and exam performance.
Perhaps they were suffering from cuteness overload at the University of Reading – their Students’ Union went with less conventionally adorable animals, organising a reptile zoo. Hundreds of students turned up to meet and hold the bearded dragons, lizards, tortoises and boa constrictors.
However not all Universities have gone the animal therapy route. The University of Manchester Student Union hosted an entire festival with live music and stalls selling food and vintage clothing. The University of Huddersfield held a de-stressing knitting session, which supported the charity Age UK.
Fitness sessions are also becoming more popular this year, with Durham University offering free Thai boxing classes, while students at Leeds Beckett University got to enjoy skipping and a “reiki taster session”, and Queen Mary University of London offered an introduction to meditation.
The University of Plymouth Student Union attempted to crowdfund a giant ball pit, capable of entertaining 50 students at a time. Sadly it appears that they were unsuccessful this year, but maybe next exam season they’ll secure the funding required to purchase the necessary 50,000 plastic balls.
Meanwhile at Imperial, campus has been pretty quiet after the excitement of ‘Treat Yo’ Self Week’ last term, which was hosted by the Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines Unions with the support of Imperial College Union. The activities included an obstacle course, free candy floss, yoga sessions and a bouncy castle.
In previous years, our Union has run the wide-reaching campaign ‘Stress Less’, billed as “a whole host of events designed to help you de-stress during the exam and coursework period”. Stress Less events have included masseurs in the Library Café, free yoga lessons, crazy golf, bouncy castles and a petting zoo on the Queen’s Lawn.
Unfortunately in 2013 the organisers came under fire from animal rights activists who spammed the College Facebook page with angry comments. Representatives from the organisation PETA UK wrote a letter of complaint to the College Rector expressing concerns that the petting zoo would “contribute to a cruel cycle of breeding, abandonment and killing”.
